Turn your team into a sales powerhouse, even if they’re ‘just’ in account management/order taking roles – It’s all about marketing and sales

Many clients wonder what outcomes they’re going to get when they send their people for sales training. In today’s information age, it’s entirely far too easy for staff to gain lots of information and yet, come away from their experience learning little.

When you embark on a sales makeover for your team or your organisation as a whole, your staff enter a process which will change how they relate to clients (and themselves as a sales person) on an ongoing basis.

We think of the process a little like renovating a house. You can either put some paint on the walls and hope for the best, or you can restore, refurbish and recreate a structure that will endure and gain in asset value. And so it is with your people.

The five part process lays the groundwork, imparts the necessary selling skills to your team, sees them receive practice and guidance and has them collaboratively create a long-term process that integrates their newly acquired skills into ‘the way things are done around here.’

Sales training programs

All about customers (1 day)

Your team will gain a sound understanding of who their customers are, what they’re really after and where they are in the buying process. Rather than just a didactic lecture, trainees are encouraged to bring along their client list (just for their own use) and map them according to where they are in the buying process and how valuable they are to your company.

You as a sales person (1 day)

During this session, trainees will learn about themselves as  sales people, how clients relate to them and how to better mould themselves to what the client needs in order to buy. We also look at beliefs around selling and motivation – to ensure they’re both set for achieving maximum outcomes. At the end of the day, trainees will get a quick ‘how to’ build their personal and business brand on LinkedIn (bring a laptop or tablet with you).

Selling skills 1 & 2 (2 days)

Your team will get plenty of practice in building their selling skills during these two days. We’ll cover prospecting, relationship building, qualifying, questioning, negotiation, packaging services for better outcomes, closing and getting referrals. And there’s also a segment on ensuring your clients are shown plenty of love along the way. Certainly not just didactic. There are role plays, personalised checklists and action plans developed along the way.

Your sales process (1/2 day)

What gets measured gets done. Whilst sales revenue and profits are an important measure for management, budgets can be difficult to predict and are open to many variables – some of which your staff will have no control over. Instead we get them to look at what they can control – their outputs. Sales is a numbers game,  but we’ll look at what are the most important numbers for your business. There’s no point putting more prospects into the system when the conversion rate is terrible. You’ll just churn and burn more potential clients. Your people work out where their block points are and so that then they can look at how to fix them.

The art of using the WIIFM principle for building sales and business development (1/2 day)

Trainees learn how they can best use the WIIFM principle in their sales and business development – every day. They’ll review and rework what they’re currently using – presentations, pitches, sales letters, etc. And we’ll touch on proposal/RFT writing and the basics of presentation skills.

Presentation skills (1 day)

The day begins with a short presentation to assess where everyone is starting from. From there you’ll receive personalised advice on your performance (and yes, presenting is a performance). You’ll review content, structure and why it’s important that your presentation is not all about you.

Ongoing practice & mentoring

But sales training doesn’t have to end there.

Behavioural change research shows if you can adequately support newly changed behaviours for 90 days, they’re likely to become habits. So we offer support to your newly trained sales people to ensure their new skills are retained for the longer term – so that both you and they reap real benefits from their training.

Each week, we check in on your staff and see how they’re going. We review sales letters, action plans, issues that have come up, etc. Staff members often find it’s less intimidating than talking over issues with the ‘boss’. Staff can check-in by phone, skype (audio or face-to-face) or email. We can even do ‘check-in days’ where we work from your office if check-ins are slow to kick off.

We suggest clients instigate a monthly sales meeting as part of the process so that staff continue to recognise they are part of a ‘sales’ team. It’s useful to have different people present at those meetings so they continue to practice their presentation skills. It also shares knowledge across the group. We can sit in on those meetings for the first 90 days post training to give little reminders and tips along the way to the broader group.

Want to know more?

All sales training is delivered by a senior accredited trainer with decades of experience not only in teaching, but in actually selling – day in, day out. Want to know more? We’d be delighted to work with you to build your team into top flight sales performers. Call Kristin on (02) 9994 8005 or drop us a note.